Indiana took the lead after the first night of competition, scoring 128 points to Michigan’s 110. Both Ohio State and Wisconsin are very much in the mix as we enter the first day of individual events, which includes the men’s 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle. Indiana senior Marwan El Kamash enters the meet as the top seed in the 500 freestyle, joined by fellow seniors Jordan Wilimovsky from Northwestern and Matthew Hutchins from Wisconsin. All are chasing the B1G record of 4:12.37, the oldest mark on the books and held by Michigan’s Olympic medalist Peter Vanderkaay.

Indiana also holds the top seed in the 200 IM in the form of Vinicius Lanza‘s swift mark of 1:43.57, an entry just over a second off of the NCAA ‘A’ cut. Michigan’s Paul Powers, last year’s B1G champion in the splash n’ dash, is the top seed for today’s 50 freestyle prelims as he tries to repeat his title.

The key players in this event staked their claim early, with the top two swimmers nailing their fastest times so far this season. Freshman Felix Auboeck of Michigan led the pack with his super quick mark of 4:13.36, a personal best by 4 seconds and just .14 off of the NCAA ‘A’ standard. He also became the 6th-fastest Michigan swimmer of all-time with that performance. This Wolverine is on a roll, having knocked out a mighty 800 free relay split of 1:31.74 to help his squad power to a bronze medal finish last night. All 7 Michigan swimmers made it back for tonight’s finals in this event, with 2 in the A, 3 in the B and in the C final.

Wisconsin’s 2016 B1G runner-up in this event, Matthew Hutchins is also gunning for the win in the men’s 500m free tonight, establishing himself as the 2nd seed in 4:14.26. That’s just shy of his season-best of 4:15.03 from December. Hutchins ultimately finished 6th in this event at NCAAs last year, clocking a time of 4:13.36, so he’s capable of firing off a big swim tonight.

Also lurking in tonight’s A final is PJ Ransford of Michigan, last year’s B1G 3rd place finisher, as well as 2016 Olympian Jordan Wilimovsky who nabbed the 7th seed in 4:16.30. Ohio State saw two swimmers score places in tonight’s A-Final in the form of Brayden Seal and Joseph Long, while the Hoosiers also nabbed 2 A-final swimmers in Marwan El Kamash and Jackson Miller.

Hoosier sophomore Vinicius Lanza produced a big-time swim this morning to take the top seed in the men’s 200 IM. The Brazilian athlete touched in 1:43.29 to shave about .3 of a second off of his personal best from just December of this year. Teammate Ian Finnerty also broke his previous best-time barrier, firing off a solid 1:43.33 to take the 2nd seed headed into tonight’s final. This pair is used to battling together, as they finished in 4th (Finnerty) and 5th (Lanza) at last year’s B1G championship meet.

A 3rd Hoosier, Blake Pieroni, last night’s 200m freestyle lead-off hero, also threw down a lifetime best to make it into the 200 IM final, stopping the clock at 1:44.46 for 6th.

For the Wolverines, this could be a big point pick-up event, with 3 swimmers making it back to the A final. Even without IM maestro Dylan Bosch, last year’s B1G champion in this event, Michigan is well-represented by Jacob Montague, Evan White and Christopher Klein.

Badger Brett Pinfold was the other sub-1:44 swimmer on the morning, checking in as the 3rd seed in 1:43.76. That time sits just .02 off of the Wisconsin school record and represents the first time the senior has dipped into 1:43 territory.

5 of the 8 A-finalists from last year’s B1G Championships have returned to tonight’s final, led by Indiana’s Ali Khalafalla. Earning a new school record, Khalafalla stopped the clock this morning in 19.00. That dips beneath the NCAA ‘A’ standard and blows away his previous personal best of 19.21, the time that earned him 11th at last year’s NCAAs. It also establishes Khalafalla as the 2nd fastest NCAA D1 swimmer to date, sitting only behind Florida’s Caeleb Dressel (18.46).

Last year’s Big Ten champion, Paul Powers, played it cool this morning, touching in 19.26 for the 2nd seed. He was the only swimmer to venture into the 18-second threshold last year, so we’ll see what the junior has in store tonight. He’s the sole Wolverine in tonight’s A-final.

Ohio State scored two spots in tonight’s A-final, led by Matt McHugh‘s 19.59 in 5th. Mossimo Chavez made it back in 19.59 for the 6th seed. Wisconsin’s Cannon Clifton lowered his own school record with his AM mark of 19.44 and will be looking to improve upon his 8th place B1G finish from 2016’s meet.

Of note, there is a 3-way tie for 16th among Iowa’s William Scott, Michigan’s Vinny Tafuto and Minnesota’s Paul Fair. All 3 men touched in 19.85 and will compete in a swim-off for the B-Final slot.

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$14.95 for conference link on Big Ten Plus
I believe it’s free if you can a access Big Ten school’s server

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2 years ago

Go Hoosiers!

Is Pieroni only swimming 2 individuals? Only see him entered in the 100/200 Free? And he didn’t swim both relays last night right – so would only swim 4 relays? Why would be not be entered in a full slate of events?

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2 years ago

Lollipop

He is in 200 IM

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2 years ago

Go Hoosiers!

Sorry – scratch that – found him in the 200 IM as well.

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2 years ago

About Loretta Race

After 16 years at a Fortune 1000 financial company, long-time swimmer Retta Race decided to change lanes and pursue her sporting passion. She currently is Coach for the Northern KY Swordfish Masters, a team she started up in December 2013, while also offering private coaching. Retta is also an MBA …